Super Gene

In a garden on a mountain in Outer Sky, Liyu Zhen met with another Very High man. They began watching the video that Liyu Zhen had taken, which showed Han Sen slaying the star beetles.

“Li Xue Cheng, what do you think after watching this?” Liyu Zhen asked, staring at the man in green clothing.

“He is very strong. He might even be stronger than a Very High of the same level. Who is he?” Li Xue Cheng asked, not taking his eyes off the video of Han Sen.

“He is the silkworm Exquisite selected. His name is Han Sen, and he is a crystallizer,” Liyu Zhen answered.

“I think Exquisite is very lucky to have gotten a silkworm like this,” Li Xue Cheng said with a nod.

Liyu Zhen smiled and said, “What does it have to do with us if she had good luck? To be straight with you, she is a very precious person amongst the Very High. We, on the other hand, are just breeding machines.”

Seeing Li Xue Cheng frown, Liyu Zhen said, “After seeing this video, do you not have any opinions to share on it?”

“What do you mean?” Li Xue Cheng frowned again.

“When Li Keer gets her silkworm, the fights between silkworms will start. There are thirteen silkworms in total. So, which of them do you think is going to win?” Liyu Zhen asked.

“From what I can see here, Han Sen seems pretty good. But he is just a King class with nine tiers. Most of the silkworms are half-deified. One of them was even born deified. Judging from the power I have witnessed, I think the born-deified is the most likely to win,” Li Xue Cheng quietly said.

“Your reasoning is sound, but I have analyzed Han Sen and the other silkworms. Han Sen is amazingly strong, and he has many treasures. He even possesses the true god weapon Shield of the Medusa’s Gaze. I think he has a high chance of winning.” After Liyu Zhen was embarrassed in the star tree contest, he had taken the time to investigate and learn more about Han Sen. He now knew more about Han Sen than most of the Very High did.

Outer Sky had many resources, so the Very High never lacked anything. They only ventured out into the rest of the universe to find silkworms and people with peculiar talents.

So, the Very High paid little attention to most of the races in the universe, and Han Sen was just a King. Even an ordinary deified wouldn’t garner much attention from the Very High.

Liyu Zhen passed the information he had collected on Han Sen over to Li Xue Cheng. The file included a video of Han Sen using the Shield of the Medusa’s Gaze to turn Meng Lie into a statue.

“This actually happened?” Li Xue Cheng was shocked. He went quiet, and then he said, “If this video is real, he does stand a chance of winning the battle between silkworms. It is just a chance, mind you. His victory definitely isn’t guaranteed. After all, using the power of a treasure doesn’t make you as good as a real deified. There is still a big difference in level. But if he can use a weapon like the Shield of the Medusa’s Gaze, he might actually win.”

“What if this silkworm fight bars the use of treasures?” Liyu Zhen suddenly laughed.

“With his power, of course, he cannot challenge a genuine deified. The video demonstrated clearly that he couldn’t kill the deified star beetle no matter how strong he was. His power is no match for a deified yet. His skill will matter little in the face of such absolute power.” Li Xue Cheng paused and said, “But the fight between silkworms doesn’t prohibit the use of treasures.”

“It didn’t in the past, but this time will be different. I have a reliable source with sway in this matter. This time, the silkworm fights will ban the use of treasures,” Liyu Zhen said with confidence.

“Did your family member…” Li Xue Cheng seemed to have guessed something unsavory about Liyu Zhen. But before he finished speaking, he thought better of it and closed his mouth.

Liyu Zhen smiled. “You just need to know that this silkworm fight won’t allow the use of treasures. That is all. Right now, there are only four people who know about this. And you and I cannot tell anyone. The other two won’t tell, either.”

“But what does this have to do with us?” Li Xue Cheng still didn’t understand what the other man meant.

“Did you forget?” Liyu Zhen asked coldly. “Silkworm fights are normally so boring, but this one will be rather interesting. If you send out information about Han Sen, do you think others will be like us and believe Han Sen will win the silkworm bouts?”

“That might be possible… After all, the born deified silkworm is just primitive. He is actually weaker than Meng Lie. With his treasures, Han Sen would probably win,” Li Xue Cheng quietly said. As he spoke, his eyes brightened. He finally understood what Liyu Zhen had been implying all along.

“You want everyone to gamble and place their bets on Han Sen, so you can take their money?” Li Xue Cheng’s eyes flashed with interest.

“Yes. And after everyone loses because of their faith in Han Sen, do you think they will be nice to him?” Liyu Zhen laughed.

“You are so evil. You’ll be ripping off many people with resources, people that Han Sen might have to visit. If they don’t like him, it might be hard for him to earn resources,” Li Xue Cheng said, understanding.

“I, Liyu Zhen, won’t allow something stolen from me to remain stolen.” Liyu Zhen chuckled darkly. Then he said to Li Xue Cheng, “They will soon announce that this silkworm fight will ban the use of treasures, so you better move quickly. We need people to place their wagers before the news circulates.”

“This seems like quite the opportunity. Why don’t you do this yourself? Why did you have to bring me into this?” Li Xue Cheng asked, somewhat befuddled.

“I have a background with him,” Liyu Zhen said, shaking his head. “If I bet that Han Sen will lose, people will grow suspicious. You don’t know him, however. We can share this business half and half.”

“You are right. With your relationship to Han Sen, if you bet that he will lose, they will know that there must be something going on behind the scenes.” Li Xue Cheng laughed and said, “Sure. Then it’s settled.”

Information about Han Sen soon spread across the Very High. The Very High became interested in him, aside from those that studied Very High Sense, of course. They simply didn’t say anything. Most of the Very High believed Han Sen had a chance of winning the silkworm fight, as a result.

Li Xue Cheng was able to use this opportunity to make lots of wagers with the Very High.

The results were just as Liyu Zhen had predicted, as well. Soon after the last of the bets came in, the Very High leader announced that the silkworms wouldn’t be allowed to treasures in the bouts. Many of the Very High thought Li Xue Cheng had scammed them, and they hated Han Sen, too.

Things would be fine if Han Sen won the silkworm fight, but if he didn’t win, many of the Very High would lose their money because of him. Even though Han Sen was completely innocent in this scheme, he was affected.

Han Sen didn’t know that any of this had happened. He continued fishing in Underworld Lake, and after ten days, he returned to the star tree.

The old man under the tree was gone. Han Sen took over the guardianship of the tree. He spent some time searching through the tree’s branches, but he found no more pesky star beetles occupying the tree. It seemed as if the old man had cleared them before he left.

“The star beetle swarms come every two to three months. You don’t have to stay here all the time. Only come when the bugs arrive. Then, you just have to kill them,” Exquisite said to Han Sen.